Chapter 644: Choice
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The last bit of light in Qing Qing’s eyes gradually dimmed.
“However, that’s not certain. How about this? I’ll give you a way to stay alive.”
Su Ying took out a black porcelain bottle.
“There is a pill here that can bring the dead back to life, but it can only save one person. If you take this pill to save Zhou Xing, you can only leave your life here. If you don’t want the pill, I will immediately get someone to send you out of the city.”
On one side was a way for Zhou Xing to stay alive, and on the other side was a way for her to stay alive.
Qing Qing stared blankly at the bottle on the floor.
“Before I choose, can I go and see Big Brother Zhou?”
Su Ying gave her permission magnanimously.
Qing Qing was brought to the side hall next door by the green-robed men.
Chu Yun was a little puzzled. “City Lord, do you think that testing her by torture is not enough?”
“I’m just curious. When her own path of survival is placed in front of her, how will she choose?”
Humans might be able to resist temptation once or twice, but what about the third or fourth time?
Chu Yun continued, “City Lord, if you are worried that she’s acting, just kill her outright.”
Su Ying frowned and looked at him disapprovingly. “Am I such a ruthless person?”
Chu Yun struggled to find words to answer her. “You… are not.”
“That’s what I like about you. Honesty.”
Chu Yun was utterly speechless.
Qing Qing looked at the pale face devoid of any color of life lying on the bed. She wanted to touch his face with her two trembling hands, but when she saw her own hands were covered in blood, she stiffly withdrew her hands.
“Big Brother Zhou, you’re a good man, a very good man. How can I be worthy of you? I have no regrets in my life as long as I can help you stay alive.”
She had just experienced brutal torture and was holding on to her last bit of strength.
She looked at the green-robed man. “I choose to save him. I want to save him. Give me the medicine.”
The green-robed man handed the medicine to her without any emotion on his face. “Think about it carefully. Once you give the medicine to him, you won’t have any room for regret.”
Without hesitation, Qing Qing opened the medicine bottle, poured out the contents, and popped the medicinal pill into Zhou Xing’s mouth.
She watched Zhou Xing swallow the pill instinctively, and a relieved smile appeared on her face.
In the next moment, everything turned black before her eyes and she lost consciousness.
Zhou Xing didn’t know how long he had slept. He struggled to open his heavy eyelids. Then he felt a pain that was equivalent to a huge rock crushing his body.
“Xing’er? Xing’er, you’re finally awake.”
“Mother…”
Zhou Xing moved his dry, cracked lips, and even his voice was hoarse.
“It’s me, your mother…”
Mrs. Zhou cried tears of joy. After enduring these few days, her son finally regained consciousness.
“I’m fine, Mother. Don’t cry…” Although he was still in a lot of pain, Zhou Xing felt that nothing serious would happen to him.
Mrs. Zhou poured him a bowl of hot water and supported him as he drank it.
After drinking the water, Zhou Xing found that his throat felt much more comfortable.
Only then did he realize that he was not lying in his own house at all.
“Mother, what is this place? Who saved me?”
His memory was still stuck in the battle with those people. He was at a disadvantage. At that point, he was already prepared to accept his fate. He was not that afraid of death, but he felt that he had let his mother down.
Mrs. Zhou sighed heavily. “This will be our home from now on. This is the Tiger Base.”
Zhou Xing didn’t understand. They had already lived in Sky Alpha City for so long, so why did they move back to Tiger Base?
“Uncle Meng and the others are back too? Are they telling us to come back and guard the Tiger Base?”
Zhou Xing noticed that his mother’s eyes were red-rimmed after he asked this.
He panicked at once. Things were probably not that simple.
“Sister Zhou, let me tell him.”
Meng Zi had arrived outside the house at some point. He interjected in a deep voice as he looked at Mrs. Zhou who was choking back her emotions.
Mrs. Zhou nodded gratefully. It wasn’t that she couldn’t tell him, but when she thought of what had already happened, she found it so unbearable that she couldn’t say anything. She also didn’t want her emotions to affect Zhou Xing too much.
Meng Zi sat down in front of Zhou Xing’s bed and gestured to him not to be anxious.
“Do you know how the City Lord found out that Qing Qing might be a spy?”
Zhou Xing was shocked, but he was shocked that Su Ying knew that Qing Qing was a spy and not the fact that Qing Qing was a spy.
“How did the City Lord know?”
When Meng Zi heard him ask that, he reached out and knocked on Zhou Xing’s forehead but without much force.
“You brat. You knew about this and didn’t report it. You’re really courting death.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xing’s face displayed a look of embarrassment and guilt.
“I… I wanted to find out what they were trying to do at first. I didn’t expect…” He had overestimated himself in the end.
That night, he saw a dark shadow entering Qing Qing’s room. He became wary and eavesdropped outside the door. However, the voices in the room were too soft. He couldn’t catch anything, but he had already become suspicious of Qing Qing. During the day, he told his mother to secretly observe Qing Qing’s every move.
It must be said that Mrs. Zhou was quite capable. She didn’t arouse Qing Qing’s suspicion at all.
However, after that night, that dark shadow never came to look for Qing Qing again. Zhou Xing wanted to continue observing, but he did not expect to encounter such an incident.
“Uncle Meng, it’s my fault. It’s my fault for overestimating myself.” However, at that point, he did not have any evidence that Qing Qing was a spy, so he did not dare to act rashly. He was worried that he might ruin things.
“Do you know who told the City Lord that there was something wrong with
Qing Qing?”
Zhou Xing’s eyes were filled with bewilderment. Could it be that the City Lord had already known about this long ago?
Meng Zi exhaled a breath of turbid air. “It was Meng Jiang. He was the one who told the City Lord.”
That day, when Meng Jiang arrived at the Zhou family’s house, he felt that something was wrong with Qing Qing. From his conversation with Zhou Xing, he seemed to be certain of this, but Zhou Xing said that he would wait and see.
Zhou Xing was still considered a reliable and unflappable person, but this was no small matter. Meng Jiang didn’t want his childhood friend who grew up with him from a young age to make the same stupid mistake that he did, so he went to Su Ying and told her about this matter secretly.
At first, Meng Jiang thought that Su Ying would not believe such words without any evidence. To his surprise, she sent people to secretly keep tabs on Qing Qing that very day.
It was because of this that Su Ying knew about Qing Qing’s contact people and figured out their plan. Then, she played along.
The fact that Long Ba rebelled and his faction was wiped out at the same time was a bonus.
“Fortunately, that kid told the City Lord. Otherwise, there would have been serious trouble.” Meng Zi was also quite gratified that his son had become more mature.
“Uncle Meng, your whole family is my benefactor.”
“It’s not only that. You were seriously injured. If not for the City Lord’s intervention, you would have become a rotting corpse now.”
Meng Zi continued, “However, you’ve broken a major taboo. The City Lord will not allow you to enter the city again. From now on, take good care of yourself in the Tiger Base. If you lack anything, I will send it over to you. There are still many plots of farmland here. It will be like in the past. You won’t starve to death if you work hard.”
Zhou Xing also understood now how he had ended up in the Tiger Base.
“I know, Uncle Meng. I… I understand.”
Meng Zi patted his shoulder and stood up. “Oh, yes. It was Qing Qing who brought you to the City Lord and begged her to save you. I heard that the City Lord deployed brutal torture on her and asked her if she wanted to live or save you. She chose to save you, but she was also responsible for landing you in your current state.”
Meng Zi walked out of the room and thought for a moment before adding, “The City Lord didn’t kill her. She threw her out here in the Tiger Base. You guys decide for yourselves what to do with her..”